For the past 14 years a historical dictionary of the Irish Language has been under development and the Minister of State for the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands, Seán Kyne T.D. has recently announced the approval of a €920,000 grant for the next stage of the development of ‘Foclóir Stairiúil na Gaeilge’ (‘Historical Dictionary of Irish’).
‘Foclóir Stairiúil na Gaeilge’ - an initiative of the Royal Irish Academy – is funded by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and is one of the most ambitious linguistic research projects to be ever undertaken in Europe with over 70 million words already compiled and digitised, and freely accessible. Its primary objective is to establish an historical dictionary of Modern Irish (1600-2000) which will show the evolution of the language in the given period drawing from sources that include printed texts; texts from manuscripts and material from other sources. Examples of early sources to be incorporated include the 1581 poem book of the O’Hara family of Mayo /Sligo, and the 1607 account by Tadhg Ó Cianáin of the Flight of the Earls. The monumental Foras Feasa ar Éirinn, Geoffrey Keating’s great historical work on Ireland and The Annals of the Four Masters will also be available in the corpus. In addition, the corpus will comprise oral material collected in Gaeltacht regions during the 20th century with the earliest recording devices.
This body of work details the development and evolution of the Irish language over 400 years and provides a great resource for the public, particularly scholars of the language and those interested in our cultural and societal history of that period. It also presents the tradition of the language in a modern, more easily accessible way and we are now able to hear our ancestors’ voice in this new digital era. Announcing the grant, Minister Seán Kyne noted ‘It is an initiative of both national and international importance.’
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